Many many tales

Sorry readers, again, for another long absence. So much has happened since my last post that has prevented me from updating. I will try to catch everyone up as quickly as possible!

Most unimportantly, our stupid internet has been down again, so I am writing this from one of the library computers. The studpid comcast guy should be coming on Friday, so after that, I should be able to return to a regular posting schedule.

The most important recent development was my mom's surgery. She went in on Friday AM to get some large nodules removed from her thyroid. They had done a previous biopsy which had returned "inconclusive." So they wanted to removed them and test them to see if they were benign. And thankfully, gratefully, and with much hoping and praying, they were indeed benign. I was so concerned about the outcome that it was too much for me to process. I couldn't even think about it. Just physcially, emotionally, mentally could not. And what was worse, I had to be stuck here, taking yet another exam and sitting through hours of lecture, and could not be with my mom. It was frustrating beyond belief. But she did amazing through the surgery and has now recovered beautifully. I went up Saturday and spent the night to keep an eye on her and help make her supper and stuff. She is now doing very well, getting her energy back. She even made zucchini bread this morning.

This was immediately followed by the MOST EVIL of FINAL EXAMs ever. This one stupid test was worth 45% of our grade, and literally could make or break our nursing careers. Taking it was horrible, and the teacher tortured us by not posting our grades until very late the next day. I did very well (89%) and apparently everyone else did as well, as we thankfully did not lose anyone from the program. We all let out a collective sigh of relief.

Then of course, came Harry Potter.
NO SPOILERS, but I do talk about what I thought of the book. If you don't even want to read about that...skip to next paragraph!
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Naturally I have finished the book by now and would LOVE to talk with anyone who has also read it. I absolutely loved the book beyond belief. It was more than satisfying, and lived up to my expectations. And part of me is so sad that it is over. I cried more over this book than any other...tears of joy, tears of despair, anger, sadness. You name it. I cried. (At one point I was actually sobbing. physically sobbing. Jane looked at me in disbelief of my overwhelming reaction to the book. So yes, if you are a potter fan and would love to process the story, give me a call!

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And now we are back in lab. This time it is Med-Surg Lab. Which means a lot of IVs. Setting up IVs, giving meds through IVs, setting up piggy-back IVs. We also learned how to do nasal suctioning. We also learned that it is "safe practice" to suction someone's mouth AFTER you have suctioned through their nose! EWWW! we all said, including the teacher. So, even though it is gross....it is safe for your patient. weird.

Today we played with Chester, the chest. Basically a torso stuck on a board with a variety of central catheters placed in him. We learned how to flush them (Wipe before you Flush!), how to give meds through them, and even draw blood. It was pretty cool. We also learned how to install an intermittent bladder catheter. That was kinda scary. To demonstrate, our teacher pulled, as one student described it, "a giant vagina" out of a trunk. Apparently that is not one of the models/dummies they leave on the shelves when not in use. They had also shut all the shades in the room so that the many prospective student tour groups wouldn't be horrified. Actually the parents of the students would probably be horrified. And then we all had another laugh becuase the little packet of lubricant that you apply on the tubing:
Surgi-lube.

And I think I will leave you with that:)

The good, the bad, and the ugly

The good is, I passed my exam! I actually did surprisingly well considering how awful I felt about it. I am very happy with my 88, considering the class average for the test was a 79.

The bad is that we have another exam tomorrow on Maternal/Child Nursing Care (not Maternal Child Care Nursing:)
We covered a boatload of material in two days and I need to find a way to get it all to stick in my head.

The ugly is that we lost another student. While I didn't know the three other students who failed/left the program, I knew this student fairly well and she was very smart and very sweet. The worst part is that you needed to get a 73 grade in the course to pass. She got a 71. Two points short. I didn't get the chance to talk to her after we got our grades, but some other students did, and they said she was handling it well. She may try and complete the two year nursing program instead. Major kudos to her. If that had been me I would have immediately set fire to all my handouts, books, and quinnipiac apparel and gone running and screaming through the woods. If I saw a duck...well...I would smile and pat its head:) It definitely left the rest of us quiet and concerned. Moral is low and we are all terrified. And angry.

The silver lining. I like our new Maternal/Child teacher. She is very clear in lecture (although a little rambly) and I think her exam is going to be much more fair.

Okay...back to the books.

Best. Thing. Ever.

You all know that I am the biggest fan ever of www.cuteoverload.com.
If you have not visited this awesome website, stop reading my ramblings and check it out. No matter how your day is going, a quick trip to cuteoverload will bring a smile to your face.

Disparaged by my recent exam (grade still pending), I went to the site for some daily cheer. And there was an entry about the best new invention IN THE WORLD. Ever wonder what the heck your cat does all day when you are at work? Well now you can find out…
Some dude McGyvered a mini digicam for his cat's collar that randomly takes pictures throughout the day. You can actually SEE where your cat goes, what he does, and secretly follow him as he goes about his kitty-business. How incredibly awesome is that? You have to check it out:

http://www.mr-lee-catcam.de/index.htm

Ugh

So today's exam sucked. And I spend all day and night studying for it. I did not get to see Harry, but really, for all the good the studying did me, I should have. That would have been time better spent. Cuz really, none of the info that we covered in lecture was actually in the exam. I think the teacher got confused and gave us an exam for like, next semester. It was awful. And more awful is that we still haven't got our grades yet. So I will have to spend the entire evening obsessing over my grade. And before you all say how crazy that is, I guarentee you that every other student in the program is feeling the same way. So I guess we are all crazy:)

Choices

So a week has gone by which means we have finished the lecture portion of an ENTIRE course. The final exam is tomorrow. We then immediately start on our next course, Maternal Child Care Nursing. At this point, we are all starting to show wear around the edges. By the end of class on Friday, I actually started to wonder if my brain would be able to absorb any more information. After a particularly confusing lecture on chemotherapy, I felt like I wanted to gnaw my own arm off. Sentiments were shared by everyone in the class. Our heads are simply getting very very full. Fridays in general are very tough. Our brains have reached maximum saturation, our concentration levels have plummeted, and our butts are sore from sitting in the uncomfortable desks all day. Even the professor was pretty cooked. It was definitely time for the weekend.

Now I need to muster up the concentration and motivation to study for yet another exam. I took yesterday completely off, to give my poor noggin a break. It helped a lot. And on the upside, if I get my studying done this afternoon, Jane & I will go see the new Harry Potter movie, which I am VERY excited about.

It just gets overwhelming knowing that after tomorrow's exam, the whole process will repeat, without a long break until the end of August. It like we are running sprints to pass each midterm while simultaneously running a marathon to the end of summer.

I am still enjoying the program and the experience, don't get me wrong. And I know it will all be worth it in the end, and I would rather have this crazy schedule and have it done in 1 year, than spreading it out over two years.
Okay, I feel better. I just needed to vent. Phew. Thanks for listening to all my whining! :) Back to the books!!

Another day, another test

Sorry all! I haven't been posting as much...this week has been pretty busy. We have another test tomorrow so this will be short. Yesterday was very surreal. In addition to the usual lecture, our classtime included: a game of Medical Jeopardy, a skit about brain attacks, lots of little slips of paper, our professor dressed up as Dr. McFaatipahnts, and, no joke, a dance/kickline with bedpans to the song "Bedpan Blues". An actual song called Bedpan Blues. I guess you can really find anything on the internet. Both the skit and the dance involved reluctant "volunteers" from the class. I was not in the skit, but had the pleasure of joining the kickline routine. Naturally many of the students recorded it with their camera phones. And I told them I would hunt them down if I ever found it on You Tube.

Familiar Faces

It was nice to be back in the classroom, not necessarily for the 9 hours of lecture, but to see everyone's faces again. We had been split up for two weeks in our small clinical groups, and it was nice to be back together and hear about everyone's experiences. There were some horror stories (one student told me she cried 3 times on her first day) but mostly everyone had a positive experience.

However, three students have left us for good. Two failed out and another quit the program after 1 day of clinicals. It just reminds me of how scary an experience this is, how much is at stake, and how proud I should feel for making it this far. It's good to keep things in perspective.

Okay, back to the books. We started a new semester today and Wednesday is the midterm. But I learned a fancy new big word today: endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatiography which is a test physicians use to diagnose problems with the gall bladder, pancreas and bile ducts. And we talked about two of my favorite anatomy terms: the ampulla of Vater and the sphincter of Oddi. Maybe someday I will discover a new landmark in the body. The ampulla of Gerry. I hope I discover an ampulla or duct rather than a sphincter. Cuz really...sphincter. It's kinda funny.